In This Life And The Next
by SquirmyBug
Summary: Various drabbles about the delinquent who became a spirit detective and the Grim Reaper who became his assistant. Because between them, there is more than meets the eye. YusukeBotan
1. Distance

**Title:** Distance  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.  
**Author's Notes: **A bit of spoilers about the end of Yu Yu Hakusho.**  
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(_So that's it? I'm road kill.)_

When Botan had first met Yusuke, they sat at quite a distance from each other. She would sit on her oar, chatting mindlessly about his new mission. He would sit with his back against a wall, ignoring her completely. He'd fumble in his pocket and pull out a lighter, lighting up a cigarette and taking a drag, letting the smoke burn his lungs. In response, she'd wrinkle her nose in disgust and wave her hands to get the smoke out of her face. She'd glare at him, asking if he was paying attention and her reply came in snores from his sleeping face.

(_And you expect me to fight him and become the hero?)_

After surviving a battle Yusuke was not prepared for, Botan flew down from Spirit World, landing on the roof of his school. This time with her feet planted firmly on the ground.

"Another mission." He groaned, finishing his cigarette and flicking it to the ground. Botan put her hands on hips and began yelling that smoking kills and she would know because it's her job. Sprawled out on his back, he smirked and just to spite her, he grabbed another one. This time intentionally blowing the smoke in her face before turning to his side and announcing he was going to take a nap.

Later that day he saved her life, slowly closing the gap between them.

(_Since I started this tournament, I learned the value of what you gave away, and I won't let it go, even if I have to give up my life.)_

She came because she was worried about him this time. Yusuke had sought refuge sitting at the window, halfway done with his cigarette with everyone else asleep. But the Grim Reaper never sleeps, not when people die every day, not when people whom she cares about dies. She fell to her knees, sitting across from him and wondered. He stared out the window, drumming his fingers before he spoke, startling Botan.

"Do you think I'll win?" He asked. She smiled at him, but said nothing for a moment.

"Not if smoking kills you first." She answered, scolding him while grabbing the stick and putting it out. The smoke evaporated in the air, leaving them with silence. He yawned, getting up and left to try and sleep. He'll win, Botan whispered to her self, he always does.

_(Even if you killed me, I would come back from the dead and drop kick your ass.)_

Feeling Yusuke's soul leave his body was something Botan was not prepared for and will never be. She sat next to him on a bench in an empty park, making sure that he was not an illusion. But she knew better, it was an illusion in her head in thinking that things would stay the same forever. Everything changes and only she is forever. In a fit of anger, she snatched his pack of cigarettes and threw it in the fountain. How many times, she began yelling, how many times did she have to tell him . . . ?

"You only live once." He grumbled, rubbing the back of his head where she had smacked him. His eyes drooped down, his weariness at life had finally caught up to him and fell asleep against Botan as she watched the rain fall. She in twinned her fingers around his, praying that this would not be the last time she would see him.

_(I will win the Demon World Tournament.)_

And so she waited.

Besides, she had forever.


	2. What Is And What Was

**Title:** What Is And What Was  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.  
**Author's Notes:** Just a drabble.

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Botan is half of a person. 

She is half dead and yet half alive. She can never truly be laid to rest, and she can never grow old from age. She died from the Human World at the age of seventeen, and now she will forever stay in that faded image as a reminder of what she once was. She's there in the Spirit World, neither a soul nor a demon, she just is. When the word cracks, steeping deep in to the ground shattering what is once was until it is gone, she will watch and do nothing.

_(Because that is was she is.)_

Yusuke is the pure essence of life.

He is what he is; he will die every era and come back reborn. He once was a combination of human tainted with a drop of demon, given a chance to stay and live forever as king or else age and die worthlessly as a nobody every time. But he has seen too much, a veteran of how cruel all worlds can be. He lets his body disintegrate and mind slip until he can't tell that time has slipped by. When he opens his eyes, he will see his body below once more. Behind him, she will stand youthful looking as she was many lifetimes ago, smiling, ready to give him peace.

She will stretch out her hand, ready to purge him into death once again.

_(And he can't help but feel that he has died before.)_


End file.
